Artificial sweeteners damage the blood vessels

Of course, we have long known that sugar is not healthy and increases the risk of many health problems. Sweeteners were once considered a wonderful alternative. Meanwhile, however, we know that they also have a negative impact on health. Now, researchers have shown that sweeteners have very similar health effects to sugars, but cause them to have quite different modes of action. When asked, “What’s better, sugar or sweeteners?”, There is only one answer: better to avoid both!

Sweeteners or sugar: both make you sick!

Who ample sugar ingests – often inadvertently via finished products – promotes obesity, can become more easily diabetic and has an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. So many people resort to artificial sweeteners like aspartame , Acesulfame-K, saccharin & Co.

Also, many drinks, finished products and snacks from the food industry have long been sweetened with sweeteners and thus advertised tempting with low calorie count. Yes, sweeteners are among the most widely used food additives and let consumers believe day in and day out that they could enjoy sweets in good conscience.

However, more and more studies show that sweeteners are by no means a healthy alternative to sugar. Because they too are leading overweight and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes , Even the risk of dementia increases , if you sweeten with sweeteners regularly.

Overweight and diabetes

At the annual Experimental Biology 2018 in San Diego (a conference where members of various scientific societies meet) Dr. Brian Hoffmann , Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee new insights into sweetener.

Hoffmann first explained why this topic had aroused his interest:

“Although so many people use these calorie-free artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, today we have extremely many overweight and diabetics.”

Sweeteners therefore seem to offer no solution if you want to stay slim and healthy.

Sugar and sweeteners damage the blood vessels

Hoffmann’s study has so far been the first study devoted to the biochemical effects of artificial sweeteners on the body. The goal was to find out exactly how sugar (glucose and fructose ) and on the other hand sweeteners (aspartame and acesulfame-K) on the blood vessel walls.

It showed that all sweeteners equally affected the functioning of the blood vessels. However, this happened in very different ways. Hoffmann said:

“In our research, both sugars and sweeteners had negative effects that could lead to obesity and diabetes in the long run, but with very different mechanisms.”

Sweetener can be deposited in the body

In the blood it came through both sweetener groups to changes among other things in the fat level and also in the amino acid levels. In particular, sweeteners changed the way fat metabolism is handled as well as the way in which energy is generated. Acesulfame-K seemed to be deposited in the body sooner or later and caused more damage to the blood vessel walls than the other sweeteners.

“The organism does have mechanisms for processing small amounts of sugar. However, if too much sugar is consumed over a long period, these mechanisms collapse, “says Hoffmann. “But replacing the sugar with artificial sweeteners results in negative changes in fat and energy metabolism.”

Alone the renunciation of sweeteners and sugar does not protect against diseases

Unfortunately, the risk of overweight and diabetes is not reduced by simply eliminating artificial sweeteners or sugar from the diet. Because the two problems usually arise through a combination of several risk factors, which u. a. also include physical inactivity, stress and an overall unhealthy diet.

Hoffmann warns:

“However, those who consume artificial sweeteners or sugar in addition to the usual risk factors further increase their risk of obesity and diabetes.”

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